"The role of academics is to create, collect,
record,
disseminate, modify, expand, destroy, and re-create theory. This
is
accomplished through researching, teaching, writing, public
speaking,
and
consulting. Through each of these means, theories enter,
either
consciously or unconsciously, into public discourse. These
alternative
theoretical foundations (or competing explanations) are among the
factors
responsible for community or individual action."Amy
Silverstein
Cramer

"The classical theorists resemble Euclidean geometers in a non-Euclidean
world who, discovering that in experience straight lines apparently
parallel often meet, rebuke the lines for not keeping straight -- as the
only remedy for the unfortunate collisions which are occuring. Yet, in
truth, there is no remedy except to throw over the axiom of parallels and
to work out a non-Euclidean geometry. Something similar is required today
in economics." John Maynard Keynes

"The elimination of ignorance, of illiteracy... and of
needless inequalities in opportunities (is) to be seen as objectives that
are valued for their own sake. They expand our freedom to lead the lives we have reason to value, and
these elementary capabilities are of importance on their own."
Amartya Sen

Community
Development Projects

Today many children grow up in environments that stifle
their
creative potential and do long-term damage to their physical and
emotional
health. It has been my goal to contribute to improving the
conditions
children grow up under. That is why I became an
economist.

Urban League of
Portland, OregonAs director of education of the
Urban
League of Greater Portland, Oregon (then under the leadership of
Herb Cawthorne), and director of the Financial
Services
Academy (a joint venture of the Portland Public School District and
the
Urban League, chaired at the time by W. Charles "Chuck" Long, then
senior vice president at US Bancorp), I
initiated, expanded, and/or improved a number of community
development
programs. Education Division programs included the Jefferson High
School
Financial Services Academy (targeting "high risk" youth and
achieving record low drop-out rates), the Whitney Young Learning Center
(directed by
Deborah
Cochrane), and the Youth Entrepreneurial Skills Program.

First Nations Development InstituteAs
a
consultant for First Nations (under the leadership of Rebecca
Adamson), I participated in the development of the
Lakota Fund, conducted workshops at
Pine Ridge Reservation
in South
Dakota, co-wrote (with Gini Egan) a manual on regional economic
impact
studies (REIS), and carried out a wide range of such REIS analyses
at
reservations around the United States. The basic conclusion of the
REIS
analyses was that the economic impact of reservations upon the
regions
within which they were located was positive (and statistically
significant), despite the relatively low level of economic
development,
weak rates of economic growth, and high rates of unemployment on the
reservations. A policy implication of the studies was that fostering
higher rates of economic growth and more sustainable economic
development
would be beneficial not only on the reservations but to the entire
region
within which the reservation is located.

United Nations
Development ProgramAs a consultant for UNDP, I helped to
develop a revolving loan fund for the Belize Rural Women's Association
(BRWA) -- promoting the economic independence of women throughout this
Central American nation, and conducted workshops for BRWA cooperatives in
a wide range of communities, including Dangriga, the Valley of Peace, the
village of Double Head Cabbage, San Antonio, and Punta Gorda. I also
advised BRWA (under the leadership of Cynthia Ellis and Lucia Engleton) in
the creation of a centralized marketing operation in Belmopan. Click here to read more about the BRWA program.

Rural
Development Leadership NetworkSince graduate
school I've been
the academic coordinator of programs designed to train rural
professionals
to be more effective leaders, first with the National Rural Fellows
(NRF)
Masters in Regional Planning Program at the University of
Massachusetts,
Amherst, and then with the Rural Development Leadership Network, led
by
NRF founder Starry Krueger. Through RDLN, emerging leaders from poor
rural
areas spearhead development projects and design related study
through
which they may earn a certificate or academic credential (B.A.,
M.A., or
Ph.D.). Past graduates include
Unita Blackwell, Winona LaDuke,
Shirley Sherrod,
Birgil
Kills Straight, Mily Treviño-Sauceda,
Shoua Vang, Julie Moss,
Juan Babauta, Wesley
"Chuck" Jacobs, and Mississippi State Senator Robert Jackson.

What else have I done? Back when I was unbelievably young (and talk
about naive!) I worked as
a documentations analyst and computer
programmer for Systematics, Inc.(Anybody out there remember
the IBM 360/40 or programming in COBOL and PL1? --- also
Napoleon Black, wherever you
are, I learned a lot about life
from you), worked in internal auditing for Amfac Mortgage (Eddie
Keng Lim
was a great mentor!), served as editorial director of Food First
Publications (JoNina, I'm looking forward to reading your book on the
Black Panther Party), was a partner in Global Arts & Fashions in
Portland, Oregon, and served as president and CEO of Thunder & Visions, Inc. a public
relations and advertising company (incorporated in Oregon), that played a role in
the first election of Ron Wyden to Congress from Portland (T&V vice
presidents: Kevin D. Smith, Ellen Duke, VonDel Fisk, and Kimberly Ann McGee). See below (Seva) for my
experience working in adult corrections (thanks to Lee Brown and Carl Mason).
Namasté.

"Our problem is that we don't really understand what is going on: this
seemingly solid world is volatile by nature.
”
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

"As we return to the center, let us not forget all that we learned and
experienced in this journey back from the past. Let us rebuild our nations
and mend the sacred hoop."
Birgil Kills Straight

"The willingness to reexamine lifelong beliefs because of conflicting data
takes enormous courage, and contrasts sharply with recent examples of
public discourse in which our political, cultural, and religious
leaders have fit data to preconceived theories."
Donal O'Shea, in The Poincaré Conjecture, 2007

Long experience as a profoundly flawed person has taught me this
unexpected truth: that welcoming imperfection is the way to
accomplish
what perfectionism promises but never delivers. It gives us our best
performance, and genuine acceptance in the family of human --- and
by
that
I mean imperfect --- beings.
Martha Beck

Every night & every morn
Some to misery are born.
Every morn & every night
Some are born to sweet delight.
Every morn & every night
Some are born to endless night.
from Auguries of Innocence
by William Blake

Yahoo's new Y!Q search is contextual. Just write what you want to know (in
full sentence is fine). This search engine may eventually give
Google it's first real competition in a long time, although it still needs
some serious tweaking.
Temperature Conversion Module Below:

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to convert.

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"We promised if one of us left or died
We'd meet again in another life" -- Jill Sobule, from
Resistance Song

The sky breaks open and weeps. The night is a lonely child thundering
cries under a black blanket. I am the voice that cannot pierce the
thunderbreak. I am the silence broken. (from Dreaming in
Malaysia)

The dao that can be described in finite words is not the
eternal dao.
---Dao De Jing